California has opened the door for residential microgrids in all new homes with the recent release of 2019 building standards aimed at improving energy efficiency.
Issued by the California Energy Commission, the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards require solar photovoltaics for all new homes. They also provide new home builders with … [Read more...]

University of Hawaii Maui College plans to go 100 percent green--likely a first-of-its-kind on a college campus--thanks to a solar microgrid equipped with 42 MWh of energy storage that serves five campuses.
Johnson Controls is providing the battery storage and controls and Pacific Current -- a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries -- … [Read more...]

In the wake of the fires that ravaged Sonoma County in October 2017, the Clean Coalition — a non-profit that aims to accelerate the use of clean energy and technologies — is working to create community microgrids in the area.
The organization compares efforts in Sonoma County to work in Puerto Rico, where hurricanes ravaged the island and … [Read more...]

Another utility – this one Hydro-Québec – is moving into microgrids. The hydroelectricity giant announced that it will develop the Lac-Mégantic microgrid, a project it describes as a major step in its technological evolution.
The Canadian public utility is teaming with municipality Ville de Lac-Mégantic to build a solar plus storage microgrid in … [Read more...]

Ten California microgrid projects recently beat 150 others in a competition for $51.9 million in state grant money. What set them apart?
The winners had to meet strict requirements, demonstrating a business case for advanced microgrids that support the state’s energy and greenhouse gas policies. That included proving that projects had … [Read more...]

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave energy storage a triple boost yesterday with the release of a series of new climate change initiatives.
First, Cuomo called for 1,500 MW of energy storage in New York by 2025, a goal he sees the state reaching through regulatory changes and utility solicitations.
Second, he proposed that the NY Green Bank … [Read more...]

A US$9.2 billion a year market opportunity for minigrids and home solar PV systems is expected to save Nigerian homes and businesses $4.4 billion per year in energy spending, as well as dramatically improve human and environmental health and safety, according to a market study produced by Nigeria's Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Rocky Mountain … [Read more...]

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARNEA) has awarded Western Australia's Horizon Power US$1.44 million toward a distributed solar plus storage microgrid to test how weather affects behind-the-meter solar networks and improve upon microgrids.
The ultimate goal is to reduce reliance on fossil fuel power generation while delivering reliable, … [Read more...]

Illinois is emerging as the best kept secret in grid modernization, taking big strides that go unnoticed in the shadow of high visibility coastal states that are pushing for flashier industry reforms.
That's the word from a new report, “Generation to Generation: An Energy Evolution," by management consulting firm ScottMadden.
The report finds … [Read more...]

Duke Energy Florida has plans to re-make its grid into a two-way grid that incorporates renewable energy, storage, electric vehicle charging stations and smart meters and boosts resiliency.
The plan is a blueprint for re-making a dated grid into a more fashionable system that’s bidirectional, flexible, protects itself against power outages … [Read more...]

Industry Perspectives

Ameresco’s vice president of microgrid services, Will Agate, describes the process of getting started on your microgrid project — the very first step of which is to carefully consider and define the needs of your organization and its community.

White Papers

A new energy-as-a-service (EaaS) model has emerged that simplifies microgrid development and ownership for organizations. EaaS relieves the microgrid host from operational and financial risk—but guarantees them the benefits. A new special report from Microgrid Knowledge and Schneider Electric explores in detail the new model for energy-as-a-service microgrids.